School’s Out! So It Must Be Summer

By Editor | May 20, 2026 |

Oakland News
By Linda Aldy

We hope you will join us in Oakland on Memorial Day at noon at the James Riley Swearengen Walking Track and Park as our Oakland Area Lions Club kicks off our America250 Mississippi grant with a memory walk recognizing those who have died during military service. Cassaundra Pipkin and the Oakland Area Lions have put together a simple, respectful, and beautiful service which will include current and retired military members. All who have family or friends to recognize will have a chance to speak and to walk with a card carrying the name of the person being recognized.

We are also planning a July 4th event, so stay tuned for details on that.

It is graduation season and Joy Mullen’s granddaughter, Meg Daves, has closed out a brilliant collegiate tennis career and graduated summa cum laude from Northwest Community College. Meg will attend Mississippi State University but is not planning to play competitive tennis.

One of my favorite gifts to give to graduates is Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” It is a classic about facing life’s challenges no matter the age. I think the graduates prefer gift cards and monetary contributions these days! A current greeting card from the line Em & Friends carries this bit of wisdom, which will do us all good to remember: “When life is wonderful, remember that you made the choices that got you here, and when life is challenging, remember that you always have the power to make a new choice.”

Gay Lynn Haynes is one of the participants in the America250 Mississippi United in Song which is Mississippi’s flagship musical celebration for the 250th anniversary of the United States. Taking place at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, this free, televised tribute will blend American history with Mississippi’s musical legacy. Tickets are free on Ticketmaster. The event is June 20 and will feature a 1,000-voice volunteer choir, a 120-piece live orchestra, a children’s choir, and professional ballet dancers. Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) will record the event to be aired at a later date. The singers are from all over the state. It should be amazing. I have conflicting information on the time. My tickets say 6 p.m. and a Google search says 7 p.m.

Gay Lynn has one of the most beautiful voices and I am excited that she is involved in this!

Mayor Stephanie Patterson recently visited Tulsa, OK and the Black Wall Street Rally recently. The rally is an annual, motorcycle-inspired community festival and cultural event held in the historic Greenwood District of Tulsa. It is for both riders and non-riders. The rally celebrates the legacy of Black Wall Street—once one of the most prosperous African American communities in the U.S. before the tragic 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The event promotes Black economic development, financial literacy, and community empowerment.

Congratulations to Coffeeville High School for receiving a $250,000 Uplift Energy Grant from TVA. They were the only school in Mississippi to receive this!

My granddaughter, Alice, and I could not wait to get to the new Sweet Spot Creamery at the Farmacy Marketplace when it opened on Saturday! Their tagline is “Shakes, Cakes & Sundaes.” Alice got a chocolate milkshake and I got a scoop of sea salt caramel. Later in the afternoon Mother and sister Carol both got a scoop of strawberry. Mother is excited because it is Blue Bell. The very first customers were two cute little girls from Oxford!

Alice got out of school for the year at noon on Friday and wanted to have a sleep-over at “Granny Bird’s” (which is what she calls my mom). We couldn’t get there until Saturday, so we went to the movie on Friday afternoon and saw The Sheep Detectives which is a comedy-mystery with some big name actors and actresses in voice-roles as well as some portrayals. A shepherd is murdered and his sheep use their detective skills (which they have picked up because he read mysteries to them every evening) to help a Barney Fife-type small town policeman solve the crime. Alice and I both gave it a 10. The sleep-over was a huge success in great part because there were baby kittens for Alice to play with. We also made a quick run to Discount Building Materials in Oxford to look at a bathroom vanity. Alice decided she wanted to buy Granny Bird a gift while we were there. She specifically wanted a pillow, but even her third-grade self blanched at the $140 price tag! She settled on a sweet little ceramic bird for only $8.

My grandson, Jake, gets out of school the middle of this week. I am helping his mom run “Medieval Games” for his fifth grade class on Monday. I anticipate it will be a little wild! Jeannie, my daughter-in-law, said her last October self thought it sounded like a good idea to volunteer to coordinate this! I have done the same thing many times in my life!

There is something about the rhythm of the school year that is better than the calendar! School’s out, so it must be summer. I hope your summer is off to a great start.

Let me know if you have news to include. Contact me via email at oaklandareachamber@gmail.com or text or leave a message at 601-853-3942.

Posted in Herald Columnists